Yet when done correctly, peer review can be an invaluable part of the writing process and of each students' learning experience. However, in order to get the most out of peer review, you have to be willing to be a thoughtful and attentive audience and, above all, to be honest in your assessment.

Peer review is defined as a process of writers assisting other writers with their revisions by reading and/or listening to essays and making comments that suggest ways the essays are effective as well as ways they could be improved. Both writer and reviewer can learn a lot from this process. It is often easier to see places in the writing that are confusing or contradicting other ideas in the writing when you are looking at someone else's writing. When you are writing, you know what you want to say, so what you have on paper is clear to you. But in order to communicate effectively, you need to be sure your ideas are clear to your readers. As a reviewer, when you notice a place in an essay that isn't clear, you can learn potential mistakes to avoid in your own writing. 

When you do a peer review, you are offering comments to the author based on your own opinion. This can be uncomfortable. Many of you may believe that you don't know enough to comment on someone else's writing. Or, you may feel you are criticizing someone else. This feeling is understandable. However, even if you can't do something well, you can often identify problems or strengths in someone's else's performance. I am not an Olympic skater, but I can certainly see when an Olympic skater is performing a maneuver well and when she is not. You know when you feel confused because the writer has gone off topic. You know when you read something that isn't convincing. Trust your feelings because those responses can go a long way toward helping the author revise the essay.

It is possible that not everyone in the peer review group will have the same response to a piece of writing. This is normal. It is up to the author of the essay to ultimately decide what advice to use to resolve issues in the essay. 

As the author who is being reviewed, it is important to be open to suggestions. The worst thing you can do is to get defensive when a reader tells you he/she didn't understand something. Try to see where the reader got lost and what you might adjust to help the readers see things more clearly. The more open you can be to the suggestions, the more profitable you will find the peer review experience.

The least helpful thing you can do during a peer review is to simply say, "This looks great." While it sounds nice, and it might make the author of the essay feel good for awhile, it ultimately is a very empty statement. If you like the essay--great, but what specifically do you like about it? What is working to make this essay so great? Knowing what you have done well is just as important as knowing what you need to work on. When you give feedback, either positive or negative, you must be specific. It is most helpful if you can identify specific passages in the writing that are working or not working.

Here are a few general rules to follow when your work is being reviewed:

• Never apologize for the writing you are about to read. You are reading a draft. We all expect to see some rough places that you are still working on. So long as you have put a sincere effort into your draft, you have nothing to apologize for.

• Don't "defend" your work. When the reviewers make suggestions, keep an open mind. Remember that the reviewers are talking about your writing, not about you personally.

• Ask questions to clarify what the reviewers are saying. There is nothing worse than not understanding the feedback people are trying to give you.

• Thank the reviewers for their comments.

Here are a few general rules to follow when you are reviewing another writer's work:

• Listen for the overall effect of the writing during the first reading. Remember to be a thoughtful, interested audience. Don't try to correct things or make comments while you are listening the first time. You can't listen and write.

• Make your notes and comments during the second reading.

• Don't get hung up on grammar. Look at content and organization first. If the paper doesn't make sense or doesn't say anything, it won't matter if it has perfect grammar.

• Resist the urge to editing the paper into the paper you would write. Show the author what is working and what isn't working, but leave the revision up to the author.

There are also a few potential problems to watch out for:

• Don't make critical comments directed at the writer. Remember that you are reviewing the writing. It is not appropriate to imply that the writer is stupid or his/her ideas not worth presenting. Focus your attention on the writing.

• Don't get distracted. It is important to stay focused on your task. Nothing makes a writer feel worse than to have everyone in the group talking about the Laker's game instead of his/her essay. 

• Don't say everything is fine when it isn't. This is actually a very cruel thing to do. During peer review, you all have the opportunity to help one another develop the best essays possible. If you say everything is fine when it isn't, you are cheating your classmate. 

Here is the procedure we will use for Peer Review

• In your groups, hand out the copies of the essays and decide who will go first. As a group, you will evaluate one essay at a time. 

• The author of the essay will read his/her essay aloud to the group. Now, I know some of you will freak on this idea, but there is a reason. As you read your own essay aloud, you will find many of your own mistakes. You will also see things a bit differently than when you were working on the essay at home. If you find mistakes while you are reading, don't stop reading. Make a quick mark by the problem and keep going.

• Once the essay has been read aloud, the group members can then read the essay quietly to themselves. Groups members will answer the questions on the peer review form, and they can write questions or comments on the essay copy. DO NOT EDIT another author's essay. This isn't your job. Just make suggestions. (Author's: while your group is reviewing your essay, you can deal with any of those errors you happened to find while you were reading).

• Once everyone has had a chance to answer the questions on the peer review sheet, take a few minutes to discuss everyone's responses to the essay.

• Return the copies of the essay and the peer review sheets to the author.

• Then move on to the next essay. Don't try to read all the essays, then review them afterwards. You won't remember the first essay you heard. They will become a jumble!